Improvement in reefing fore-and-aft sails



J. L.- D IGKENSON. Reefi'ng Fore-and-Aft Sails.

-No. 211,712. Patented Jan 28,1879.

ATTORNEYS.

edge is attached to the end of the gaff E, and is secured by a rack-UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

JOSEPH L. DIGKENSON, OF HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN REEFING FORE-AN D AFT SAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21 1,712., datedJanuary 28, 1879 application filed December 23, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osEPH L. DIoKENsoN, of Hernpstead, in'the countyof Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Beefing Fore-and-Aft Sails, of which the following is aspecification Figure 1 is a side view of a fore-and-aft sail to which myimprovement has been applied. Fig. 2 is a detail section of the same,taken through the line 00 a, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicateporrespondin g parts.

The object of this invention is to furnish fore-and-aft sails whichshall be so constructed as to save labor and time in reefing, which maybe reefed in such a way as to bring the sail into proper shape for astorm-sail, confining the gaff and giving it all the advantages of atry-sail, which shall be a great ad vantage in jibbing or when rollingheavy in a calm, as the gait is secure, and at the same time shall beeasier on the sail.

The invention consists in the combination of the reef-brails with thesail, the gaff, and the mast-hoops, for reefing the upper inner cornerof the said sail and in the block-jaw a ttached to the upper side of theinner end of the gafl, to rest against the mast and keep the said innerend of the gaff in place when the said gaff is lowered in reefing, ashereinafter fully described.

A is the mast. B is the sail, the lower edge of which is attached to theboom 0 in the usual way. The mast of the sail B is attached to themast-hoops D, and its upper ner to its inner edge, near i lower innercorner, is attached a row of bulls-ey s, F, through the upper part ofwhich and through bullseyes F, attached to the gaff E, is passed areef-brail, G, the free end of which is passed through a bulls-eye, F,attached to a hoop,D, through a bulls-eye, F, attached to the inner sitesides of the sail B, frongsiisflouter top corgafi E. To the oppoingwhenconfining a reef. Through the bullseyes F of the lower part of thediagonal row, and through bulls-eyes F, attached to the hoops D, ispassed a reef-brail, H, the free end of which is secured by a rackingwhen confining a reef.

WVith this construction, by slackening the throathalyards and drawingupon the peakhalyards, the gaff E will be brought into the positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, bringing its outer end nearly intoline with the top of the mast A and the outer end of the boom C, so thatthe said gaff will be held firmly. At the same time the reef-brails G Hare drawn upon, reeling the upper inner corner of the sail B against thegaff E and the mast A.

The reef-points I are arranged in an inclined line above the lower innercorner of the sail B, so that when the upper and lower reefs are bothtaken the sail will be brought into the shape of a mutton-leg sail.

To the upper side of the gaff E, near its jaws, is attached a block-jaw,J, to rest against the mast A and keep the lower end of the gaff E inplace when the said gaff is lowered. Reefbrails G H are attached to bothsides of the sail B, so as to closely confine the reef.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Pat ent- 1. The combination of the reef-brails G H with thesail B, the gaff E, and the masthoops D, for reefing the upper innercorner of the said sail B, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The block-jaw J, attached to the upper side of the inner end of thegaff E, to rest against the mast A and keep the said inner end of thegaff E in place when the said gaff is lowered in reefing, substantiallyas herein shown and described.

JOSEPH L. DIOKENSON.

Witnesses 4 JAMES T. GRAHAM, O. SEDGWICK.

